The waiting room outside Principal Munakata's office felt as if it belonged in a hospital rather than an elementary school. The colorless walls and floors only made the still air feel that more sterile. The only noise came from the kind secretary sitting at her desk. The sound of fingers typing away on her computer keyboard provided only minuscule distraction for Shuichi as he simmered in his own thoughts. He was thankful when the secretary handed him a box of tissues and a waste basket when he first arrived, his panic fueled tears only recently subsiding as he sat by himself in a row of plastic chairs.

Shuichi had no clue what to expect now. Through his first two years of school he couldn't recall any time he was scolded by a teacher for his behavior. No one ever bothered the quiet kid anyway. So to say he was prepared to speak one on one with his notoriously scary principal not even a month into his new school would be ridiculous.

The wooden door that led the principal's office suddenly crept open, the slender silver haired man standing at the door with ice cold eyes.

"Saihara, may you please step inside my office." He instructed. The boy only nodded as he slowly slumped through the door and to one of the two chairs in front of the large black desk in the bland room. As he made himself comfortable on the considerably softer seat Munataka walked behind his desk, his hands planting right onto his desk as he wordlessly eyeballed the nervous child in front of him.

"Hello Mr. Saihara." Munataka greeted without a hint of actual emotion. "I'm sure I don't need to explain to you why you're here." He stated.

"No sir." Shuichi barked back. "Am I going to be expelled?" He asked with abundant worry. Munataka relaxed, slightly but his frown lost it's intimidation.

"No, you will not be expelled today young man." He assured Shuichi. "Not that you won't face punishment for your outburst, but it's my understanding that you've maintained a clean record up until today's incident with Ludenberg. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir."

Munataka faced his back to Shuichi as he stared out the large window facing the playground, his arms crossed behind his back.

"Can you please tell me everything that happened up to and proceeding the incident today." Munataka asked.

Shuichi sighed. "Well, I met with Maki and Kaito by the slides like we always do." He began to recount. "Kaede and Keebo joined us and we decided to play house. As we were sorting out our roles Kokichi walked over and then he…" Shuichi stopped himself. Munataka turned back around, brow raised in suspense.

"And then?"

"He uh. Said something to me and now I'm here."

"And what was it that Kokichi said to you that made you hit him?" Munataka asked after a brief, tense pause.

Shuichi remained lock-lipped as the principal stared him down. It was bad enough that Kokichi found out about his father, Shuichi didn't want anyone else at school finding out. None of his other classmates needed to know, even if he could count the classmates that were related to friends of his guardians with two hands. He certainly didn't need pity from Ms. Yukizome or Principal Munataka. One quick look at the principal made Shuichi think he wouldn't get that from him even if he wanted it.

"Well?" Mr. Munataka coldly asked, his patience draining.

"… I don't want to say." Shuichi whispered before slinking his head down.

Shuichi didn't have to wonder what Mr. Munataka was thinking, his frustrated sigh saying more than words could. He turned back to the window, remaining statue-like as he mulled over his options.

"You may go back out to the waiting room, Saihara." He ordered without hiding his annoyance. Shuichi wasted no time in leaving, before stopping dead in his tracks as he saw Kokichi sitting in the waiting room absentmindedly. He kept a large ice pack pressed on his cheek as he mindlessly watched the clock. He looked back at Shuichi and smiled, acting as if he wasn't assaulted by this same boy twenty minutes ago.

Kokichi was very familiar with his visits to the principals' office, jumping off from his seat and waltzing over to the office before receiving any instructions. He winked at Shuichi as he shut the door behind him.
—-

Shuichi waited anxiously as he stared intently at the wooden door. Kokichi was still talking with the principal, providing his likely fictitious account of the event. Shuichi couldn't make out what either were saying but their sheer volume alone gave a small clue as to how that conversation was going. How Kokichi didn't falter while speaking to Mr. Munataka was beyond Shuichi's understanding.

After five long minutes in the room the loud bickering ceased, the wooden door swinging open as Kokichi happily waltzed back to his previous seat. Munataka angrily mumbled to himself as he followed his student, shutting the door closed behind him before walking over to the transparent door back out to the school.

"Since neither of you want to tell me what happened I'll just find out myself." Munataka declared out loud, glaring at the boys as they both sat awkwardly in their seats. "Stay here until I get back, I don't anticipate this taking too long." And with that, Munataka bitterly left, his angry mumbling still audible from the hallway.

Tension flooded the waiting room now as Kokichi and Shuichi were separated by only four chairs. As little as Shuichi wanted to actually interact with Kokichi, he had too many questions that this jerk had to answer to now.

"Why did you say that Kokichi?" Shuichi blurted out, "How do you know about my father?"

A small chuckle broke the silence, a laugh that lacked any humor.

"I'm surprised more people don't already know." Kokichi responded. "It's all over the news you know."

Shuichi groaned. He didn't know many other children that actively kept up with current events but he had a feeling he'd run into one eventually. He hoped that moment would have been a nice little realization with a friend as they revel in their shared interests of barely understanding the world around them. Leave it to Kokichi to dash that dream.

"Though if I can be honest for a moment, I didn't actually think that Saihara was related to you at all. No less a parent." Kokichi admitted with a flavor of embarrassment.

"You could have asked me directly!" Shuichi cried out. "What's wrong with you!?". The boys were shushed by the secretary who watched them like a hawk as her rapid fire typing had yet to stop. Shuichi glared at Kokichi who smiled sweetly.

"If I asked you directly you would have lied." Kokichi whispered. "Tell me I'm wrong." Kokichi couldn't help but giggle as Shuichi's following silence gave him his answer. The last thing Shuichi was going to do was admit to Kokichi that he was right about anything.

"See? Look I'll admit I went too far earlier but I'm not stupid."

"Could have fooled me." Shuichi spat coldly.

"Ouch. I guess I earned that one." Kokichi stared at his classmate with a sudden seriousness. "What was he like? If you don't mind me asking."

Shuichi was caught off guard by the sudden softness of the boy who bullied him not even an hour ago. He wasn't going to lower his guard so easily.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. You're just lucky you know who yours is. No matter how amazing or crummy he may be at least you've met him."

Kokichi made no attempt to mask his bitterness. For a moment the chaotic gleam ever present in his eyes faded. For the first time today Kokichi seemed to be genuine, which scared Shuichi even more. He did admit though, if now was the time Kokichi decided to tell the truth it would explain a lot. Too much even.

"But none of that matters for you though." The gleam returned in Kokichi's irises, his bitterness abandoned in favor of smug satisfaction. As Kokichi grinned at him he reminded Shuichi of a certain supermodel much to his discomfort. "It's your new mommy and daddies you should be worried about. I'm sure they're on their way as we speak. I'm sure they were expecting to get a phone call about you getting into a fight at school and are totally prepared to handle the situation!"

And there Kokichi goes, reverting back to his gremlin-self after giving Shuichi an unreliable sneak peek into his personal life. He did have a point though. Shuichi was trying to avoid thinking about the inevitable meeting with his guardians about this. In fact the dread of it was eating the poor boy alive. He was not going to give Kokichi the pleasure of showing weakness to him.

"After such a heinous attack on an unsuspecting student, I'd have to say no TV for at least a week. NO. A month. I'd kiss your weekends goodbye too." Kokichi rattled off, sounding almost too familiar with the grounding process.

Despite Shuichi's every attempt to save face, he couldn't help himself from trembling in his seat.

"What's wrong Shuichi? Have you never been grounded before? Man you really are a goody two-shoes." Kokichi mocked. "I can only imagine how disappointed they all must be right now."

Was this revenge for the punch Shuichi wondered. It must be, as Shuichi's mind filled in the blanks with what Koichi meant. Would his new parents look at him the same after this? Would they think of him as a powder keg just waiting to explode all over again. Such a child would be a handful to deal with. Even grounds for Shuichi getting sent back to his aunt perhaps? Who's to say she wouldn't just put him in a new home again?

"Shuichi?" A familiar husky voice called out, silencing Shuichi's rapid mental spiral. His blood ran cold as he realized Hinata was here in a twist of impeccable timing. Hinata didn't look angry, not even grumpy but he certainly forced an authoritative presence right now.

"H-hi." Shuichi weakly responded. He didn't move his body an inch as his anxiety was getting worse by the second. He could hear Hinata's footsteps on the squeaky clean tile floor. The closer the steps got, the closer Shuichi was to boiling over
A large shadow cast over Shuichi, the boy reluctantly opening his eyes to see Hinata standing over him now. Neither person said a word, Kokichi staring at the scene playing out with increasing amusement. That amusement quickly turned into shock as Shuichi already looked as if he was going to break down. Staring into his foster father's eyes, Shuichi's sudden fears of being unwanted were too heavy to take. His shame was unbearable now that he had to face his family.

Shuichi shut his eyes, using every ounce of his being to hold back his tears. The steps had finally ceased, Hinata now standing barely a foot away from his son.

"Care to explain what happened today?" Hinata asked, sounding more confused than mad. It didn't really matter what Hinata said to him, Shuichi only needed his to hear his voice to boil over. Shuichi didn't want to lose everything because of a stupid mistake. He practically jumped into Hinata's arms as he found himself unable to stop his sobs. Hinata didn't let go of the crying boy as he slumped down to his knees. He took this as Shuichi admitting his guilt.
Kokichi sat back watching the show with a smirk. He thought Shuichi was taking a page from his book with crocodile tears. He would have been proud if that was the case. Alas that was far from the truth, Saihara's sobs going strong for several minutes as his dad held him. "Man, he really is a crybaby," Kokichi thought to himself.

"Please don't send me back." Shuichi pleaded once he caught his breath much to Hinata's confusion. "I'll never get in trouble again I promise!" He pleaded.

Hinata's heart broke as he wiped Shuichi's tears away. "We're not going anywhere Shuichi." Hinata promised. "Look, I still don't know what's going on but you're not going to be abandoned for making a mistake."

His cries died down as he felt assured by Hinata who then reminded Shuichi of his breathing exercise. As the boy slowly inhaled and exhaled he felt silly as to worry that he'd be sent away for all of this. He still felt the dread of his punishment as he refused to let go of his guardian.

The transparent door opened back up, Principal Munakata returning back from the playground. His gaze shifted immediately to the Ludenberg boy, the principal unable to stop himself from glaring at the problem child. He knew the punch wasn't random, and after speaking with the children who witnessed the assault he knew both boys were at fault here. It'd be helpful if any of the children had told him what Kokichi said to Shuichi.

Kokichi noticed Munakata staring at him and grinned at his favorite principal with utmost callousness. Munakata rolled his eyes before turning his attention to the sniffling Saihara clinging to a young man with familiar spiky brown hair.

"Wait a second." Munataka mumbled to himself, a name pairing with the familiar face.

"Hajime Hinata is that you?" He asked out loud, the crouching man's eyebrows raising as he knew exactly who just walked in.

"Hello Munakata." Hinata politely greeted as Shuichi finally let go, walking over to the secretary for a tissue for his runny nose. "Funny seeing you here. Can you please tell me what's going on now please." He asked.

Munakata sighed before motioning to his office. "I'll bring you up to speed, I think I have a good idea on what happened." His eyes wandered between the bored Ludenberg boy and the clearly frazzled Saihara before turning around to his desk. Hinata closed the door behind him as he followed the principal.

—

As Shuichi wiped the snot off his face, he couldn't help but notice a distinctly goth woman staring him down as she curtly walked into the waiting room towards him by the secretary's desk. The woman had on a black and red Lolita style dress that came down to her knees. Her tall boots and leggings matched the color of her dress, her hands and ears adorned with the finest jewelry.

"Good morning Sano-san." The goth woman eloquently greeted as she immediately signed in, far familiar with this process.

"Ah good morning Celestia, never a dull moment with the little guy huh?" The secretary joked, the Celestia woman giving a polite laugh that lacked any sincerity.

"You can say something like that, yes." Before she could finish writing down the date, her balance was compromised as something wrapped itself on her legs.

"Mommmmmyyyyyyyy'' Kokichi cried out as he clung onto his mother's legs. "He punched me in the face for NO REASON! He's a mad man!" He pointed at Shuichi as his insincere tears continued. The woman sighed before plastering a sweet smile on her pale face. Shuichi for his part shuffled his way back to the row of chairs, Kokichi's mother possessing a scary energy as she turned to her son and recoiled from the sizable bruise on his face.

"Oh my goodness you're not kidding my dear." Celestia gasped. She looked back at the retreating child, piecing together this boy to be the culprit of Kokichi's new shiner. This same boy who looked as if he's about to pass out any second now as she locks eyes with him. She sees fear in Shuichi's eyes, but no aggression. Exactly the kind of child known to snap and beat up classmates with no reason behind their wrath, right?

"Why did he punch you dear?" Celestia gently asked her son, her assessment of this other child giving her a solid idea of what could have happened.

"I told you, he just walked up and struck me for no reason!" Kokichi pleaded. Celestia smiled at her son. A smile that one would mistake for sweet and loving. Kokichi knew the danger as his newly formed sweat ran cold.

"Kokichi honey." Celestia carried a stern warning in her voice. She knew better than anyone when her own flesh and blood was lying. "Tell me the truth."

Kokichi sighed in defeat. As much as he wanted to drag this out and stall for time he knew he dug himself a grave. He should have known better than to say Shuichi's attack was unprompted.

"I told him a joke." Kokichi spat out. Celestia's expression remained the same as she tilted her head oh so slightly.

"Oh? What kind of joke?" Celestia curtly asked, turning back to the boy avoiding eye contact as he sat on the edge of his seat.

"All I said was "Hey Shuichi, how do you leave an idiot in suspense?""

"I wasn't asking you." Celestia barked at her son before closing her eyes and running her hand through her short black hair. She stood up and stepped closer to Shuichi.

"Shuichi is it?" Celestia confirmed as she regained her composure. "Can you please tell me what it is Kokichi said to you that provoked you."

"Um." Shuichi hummed. Not even ten minutes ago he was getting daggers stared at him by Principal Munataka and he couldn't bring himself to repeat Kokichi's cruel words at him. Parents are different though. Ms. Ludenberg managed to be just as scary as the stoic principal with a smile on her face.

"Well. I was playing on the jungle gym when Kokichi walked up to me." Shuichi started, his chest already feeling tighter. ""Haven't you heard the news, your father's getting released from prison today!" He told me." Shuichi revealed, panic slowly brewing inside him yet again. Celestia's face dropped as she listened, Kokichi glaring threateningly at Shuichi by this point.

"I asked him if it was true." Shuichi's head lowered in shame. ""Of course not! Why would they let a dirty cop out of prison."" Shuichi's impression of the troublemaker tapered off as he spoke, his eyes glued to the floor.

"He's lying!" Kokichi lamely pleaded.

Celestia crouched over to Shuichi, her regal demeanor masking her quickly burning horror. "Is this true?" She asked as gently as she could. Shuichi meekly nodded his head, Celestia looking back at her son with a quietly threatening look on her face. Of course Kokichi couldn't lie his way out of this one, he knew damn well he was backed into a corner now.

His timing perfect as ever, Principal Munataka emerged from his office, coming face to face with the one parent he sees the most.

"Good to see you again, Ludenberg." Munataka greeted sarcastically. "Do you need to catch up with what's going on?"

Celestia spun around and shook the principal's hand. "Not necessary dear, thank you though."

Munataka raised an eyebrow as Hinata walked past him, planting himself right next to Shuichi on a neighboring chair. Celestia turned back around to Shuichi as she crouched down to his level.

"Shuichi sweetie can you please tell Principal Munataka what you told me." She asked, using all of her willpower to stop herself from dragging Kokichi by the ear all the way home this very instance.

"Why's it matter, he's spewing bullshit anyways." Kokichi pouted.

"Language young man." Munataka chastised before turning his attention to Saihara as well. "And what is it that you revealed to Ms. Ludenberg?"

Shuichi sighed, Hinata placing an assuring hand over his which gave the boy the necessary strength he needed. He looked at Kokichi and saw him drowning in dread, not that Shuichi cared.

As he once more repeated what sparked the fight, Munataka's face fell into his hands out of frustration. Hinata moved his hand over to Shuichi's shoulders, bringing his son into another much needed embrace. Munataka lowered his hands and faced Kokichi with an authoritative frown. Shuichi's story added up with the other children's testimonies.

"Is this true Kokichi? I'd advise you to carefully choose your next choice of words." The principal warned.

Tears of frustration ran down Kokichi's cheek, but he wasn't going to break now. He was desperately trying to come up with any last ditch excuse, anything that could get the blame back onto Shuichi. He was the one who hit him in the first place. Why isn't he getting the heat of this grilling? All he said was a stupid joke!

"It was supposed to be a joke, how was I supposed to know Shuichi would be a crybaby about his dad?" Kokichi whispered in defeat.

Munataka stayed silent as he remained lost in thought.

"Saihara." The principal boomed. "These claims about your father, are they true?"

"They are. He's been staying with my partners and I since June." Hinata answered for his son.

Munataka closed his mouth again, his eyes doing the same as he figured out how to handle this situation. He had new found clarity as to why Shuichi wasn't eager to share what happened earlier, frankly he understood completely. Even so, Munataka had little patience for mindless violence. His eyes opened back up and looked back at the slumping boy in his guardians arms.

"I think I have the full picture now. Saihara, as much as I do empathize with your situation I cannot excuse any fighting on school grounds." Shuichi's heart sank into his stomach, but he remained like a statue as he learned of his fate. "Two days In School Suspension starting tomorrow for you."

Shuichi… Actually felt relieved after hearing his punishment? Sure the idea of being suspended didn't sound fun but only two days? Munataka turned back around at the grinning now grinning Ludenberg clinging to his mothers legs. He was ready to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Ludenberg I'm giving you three days of I.S.S." He announced.

"WHAT!?" Kokichi screamed. "Shuichi punched me in the face. Why did I get suspended worse than him?!"

"Because this entire situation would have been avoided if you kept your little "joke" to yourself young man. People's private issues, particularly ones regarding potentially traumatic subjects are not to be made into punchlines. This isn't even the first time you've aggravated a classmate Mr. Ludenberg, repeated offenses stack up. I hope this the last time I see you because of it. Do you understand me?"

Kokichi pouted defiantly, "Yes sir." He resigned, holding back every desire to instigate the principal and prove his very point.

"Good. Now I believe that solves this. All of you may go home for the rest of the day, you can make up your classwork tomorrow. Come back to my office in the morning and I'll show you to where you'll be spending your suspensions. Any further questions?"

"No sir." Both boys answered.

—

Shuichi sighed in relief as he walked behind Hinata through the main doors with his backpack slung over his shoulders. Apparently Hinata also knew Ms. Yukizome from high school and spent 10 boring minutes catching up when Shuichi returned to his classroom to get his backpack. At least Ms. Yukizome sounded sympathetic when she found out what happened.

Shuichi suddenly walked right into his guardian's legs, noticing a scowling Kokichi waiting outside by the front entrance with his doll-like mother.

"Can I help you?" Hinata calmly asked.

"Why yes actually, I believe there's something Kokichi would like to say to your son." Celestia spoke as she nudged her own child towards Shuichi. Kokichi wore a mask of forlorn sorrow as he approached, a ruse Shuichi was almost offended by. Did Kokichi really think he'd fall for such an obvious lie?

"Shuichi, I… I'm sorry." Kokichi spat out after trembling on his tongue.

"You're sorry for what?" Celestia prodded.

"I'm sorry for saying your father was getting out of jail." Kokichi mumbled.

Shuichi sighed. There was a part of him that didn't want to forgive him. He figured everyone would understand him for telling Kokichi to take his apology and shove it, but Shuichi thought about what either one of Hinata, Nanami, and Komaeda would do in this situation. Despite his better judgment Shuichi found forgiveness in his heart. "And I'm sorry for punching you in the cheek." He resigned.

"You're just lucky you missed my eye, Cryhara." Kokichi scoffed, his alleged guilt vanishing by a flip of a switch replaced with ill timed smugness.

"Oh for God sakes." Celestia groaned as she grabbed Kokichi's arm a little too aggressively for Hinata's liking.

"I apologize for my sons lack of common decency." She addressed Hinata. "I warned him about being nice to his classmates to avoid this exact situation and clearly I was unwise as to think he'd listen to me. I suppose we all have to learn the hard way sometimes though." Kokichi winced as he felt the heat of his mothers wrath. She was definitely right, but pushing people's buttons was just too fun for him what he could say.

"I think today is a great learning experience for everyone." Hinata sighed. "Besides, kids can be cruel little terrors sure but all they need is a little guidance and a good example."

Celestia cocked her head slightly as she smiled sweetly. "I agree. Perhaps in the future we can all look back at this and laugh." Shuichi glanced at Kokichi and shuttered. Could this little troll really be someone Shuichi would call a friend?

Celestia sighed. "I do wish we could have met on more positive terms but alas this was the hand we were dealt."

Hinata chuckled nervously. "Trust me, I've definitely had worse first impressions before." He instinctively remembered the day he met his boyfriend and his chuckle became more genuine. "Honestly I can't believe Munataka of all people is a principal now. I knew him back in high school, I really can't say he's changed."

Celestia hummed. "I can't say I'm shocked." She sarcastically remarked. "Now if you may excuse us, I believe someone has a house he gets to clean all by himself we must return to. May the next time we meet be under positive circumstances." And with that, Celestia turned around with her son in hand and elegantly made her back to her car.

"Bye Shuichi!" Kokichi waved with his free arm as his mother pulled him along. He knew he may as well be waving goodbye to his freedom for the foreseeable future.

Shuichi reluctantly waved back for a second before looking up at Hinata. "So, now what?"

"Well, since you and I both missed lunch I was thinking we could go fix that problem." Hinata smiled. "Somewhere we can sit down and talk about what happened, how does that sound?"

"Sounds like a good plan." Shuichi cheerfully exclaimed. Today was far from what anybody had expected, exhausting beyond comparison. Through it all, Shuichi felt as if he did learn something at least. Even if "don't punch your classmate even if he has it coming" was something he had no need to be explained.